Japanese cafe food and bakes @ Haikara Style Cafe, E-Tiara Apartments, Subang Jaya

yummy mentaiko pasta - every strand has the creamy roe

Since yesterday was a cop out on a food review (not much in terms of food but more on alcoholic beverages), here's something else to make up for that. While Shah Alam can be quite dreadful for food choices, luckily there is Subang Jaya nearby. I discovered this quaint cafe's existence when I visited B&N Cafe nearby and this is now, a favourite place to hangout for lunch. Run by a Japanese couple who hail from Nagoya, I find the food served here to be simple but extremely good since it is served piping hot and made with a lot of care.


the soup is served in a cute cup, which is piping hot hence the steam...

Each item you order is usually served with either soup, salad or a roll baked at their premises. The clear soup in a cup is always piping hot and flavoured with a sprinkle of coarse black pepper and dried herbs. Sometimes you get shredded carrots and potato cubes lurking in the hot and satisfying soup. I recently introduced Splashie Boy to this place and like me, he has also taken a liking to the food here.


delish Rokoro Hamburg that Splashie Boy loves

His favourite is the Rokoro Hamburg (RM25) - a homemade burger that is juicy and melts in the mouth. Topped with a fried egg, you enjoy this with rice and shredded cabbage. My favourite here is their Mentaiko Pasta (RM18). Each strand of al dente pasta is coated lightly with cream and cod roe, making every mouthful simply delish. The Japanese curry is also very comforting with rice and pickles. You even get to choose how hot you want it to be. I had mine with rice (you can also ask for pasta) and chicken katsu.


assorted eclairs to tempt you; matcha, chocolate and caramel (RM4 each)

The cafe is also a bakery whereby items are 100% natural with no preservatives, additives or artificial colours. A selection of rolls, buns (such as Melon Pan), cakes (the ever famous Castella or Kasutera), cream puffs, eclairs and etc. I got to sample quite a few of these baked goodies as I bought them a few times. I loved the matcha bread, which I took half a loaf (RM8.80). While the flavour is very mild, the soft bread has bits of sweetened bean hidden within that give flavour to the plain tasting bread. The eclairs are a little skinnier than I would like but they do taste pretty good especially eaten cold from the fridge. If you prefer something different, they also serve mont blanc (a dessert made from chesnut cream) or the tri-colour puff, which is filled with whipped cream, pastry cream and chesnut cream.

I am partial to the banana cream roll - swiss roll with cream and banana within as it reminds me vividly of a dessert I loved to buy in Singapore. Served in a Japanese cafe (I think it was called Suzuki), they had a creamy chocolate version dusted with cocoa powder. It was always a must whenever we visited Singapore. Another item I liked was the kasutera made from egg yolks and honey. A little sweet, the cake resembles those old fashioned eggy cakes (kai tan kou) made by Chinese bakeries. Not sure how the bakery is going to do in the future though, as a new bakery is set to open next door.

The cafe tends to be quiet during weekdays but bustling with people during the weekends. It is best to eat lunch here as they close early. However, sometimes when it gets busy, be prepared to wait as they don't have many people cooking the food. One bummer about this place is I find the cafe a little stuffy probably because of the glass windows that retain heat. Nevertheless it is still a great place for a peaceful lunch far from the madding crowd. More pixs in the Flickr set including the goodies from their bakery.

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery
E-Tiara Service Apartments
GF Jalan SS16/1
Subang Jaya

Tel :03-5630 0743

(Pork free. Open from 9.30 to 6pm daily except Mondays. Parking is available in front or at the visitors carpark at E-Tiara apartments.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Japanese Cafe Food + Subang Jaya

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Curry Laksa @ Restoran Mei Sek, USJ14, Subang Jaya

laden with sinful goodies

A very quick one for today. As usual, I often have large ambitions to post loads of pictures but when I start getting tired late at night, all my good intentions go awry. Here is something I picked from Sam Cheong's food trail column at the Star Metro. Since his picks focus around the Subang Jaya area, they kinda fit me (SJ is pretty near for me via the highway network).

I checked this curry laksa place before the CNY holidays. While I wasn't too impressed with the broth - I felt it was a little watery and lacked much kick, I loved the goodies they had to laden into my bowl: pig's skin, cockles, smooth chicken (pak cham kai), beansprouts and long beans. The pig skin addition is definitely the only draw of this laksa, since not many stalls serve it with pig skin. It is not hard to miss this place, since it is visible from the main road plus another great point is parking seems a little easier to get around this portion, since it is the outer restaurant. Do check it out whenever you are in the area and have a good weekend everyone.

Curry Laksa Stall
Restaurant Mei Sek

USJ 14

Subang Jaya

(Non halal. Open for breakfast and lunch.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Curry Laksa

Japanese food @ Jyu Raku, SS15, Subang Jaya

absolutely delish stuff, perfect for carb-less diets also - Jyu Raku Roll (RM28++)

Recently, when we were exploring Subang Jaya for food, we noticed Rakuzen had re-opened after renovations and right next to it was a new Japanese place. Looking very similar to Rakuzen with an almost identical menu is Jyu Raku. From what I read, it seems the former chef from Rakuzen opened this outlet. It is amazing how all these Japanese restaurants survive, as within a one block radius, you find 5 of them trading together - Tomoe, Ryu Men Tei, Jyu Raku, Rakuzen and a little further away is Hyotan. The one that seems to be the most popular among the Japanese is Tomoe and the locals seem to prefer Rakuzen, which is perpetually packed all the time. Dining at Rakuzen, definitely needs tons of patience (don't go with an empty tummy) as not only is it difficult to get a space to sit, you have to wait for your food for quite some time.


assorted kushiyaki with teriyaki sauce (RM35++)

Last night, we decided to give Jyu Raku a try to compare it with Rakuzen. The menu features very similar items hence, if Rakuzen is packed to the brim, you have an alternative place to turn to. However, not everything is spectacular here probably because we didn't order their specialties.


light tasting - hotate no isoyaki (RM25++)

Let's start with the positive side of things. What stood out in taste and uniqueness - their Jyu Raku Roll. The maki is a nice and light (good for those avoiding carbs!) as it omits sushi rice. Instead, a piece of cucumber is wrapped around cabbage and a mix of unagi, prawn and sashimi. Topped with salmon roe, it is refreshing and delish. They must have treated the cucumber also, as it wasn't too crunchy or else it wouldn't have been easy to roll. I definitely would not mind returning for this again and again. A+ for this dish.


a little different, the gyuniku tataki (RM25++)

The other dishes didn't stand out as well as the maki but were pretty decent tasting. The gyuniku tataki was a huge portion of sliced beef lightly seared drizzled with a soy sauce. For those who hate raw beef, don't take this as it can be very reddish looking. I also liked the kushiyaki or yakitori items. We ordered a variety - mushrooms, green Japanese peppers, asparagus, minced chicken balls, chicken with leek, scallops and etc. My favourite were the green Japanese peppers. However, the teriyaki sauce they coat the items with is not as sticky and sweet compared to Shun, hence you find it a little bland. The hotate no isoyaki, which is essentially steamed scallops with mushrooms and their special sauce was very light tasting. You can't distinguish much of the sweet taste of scallops though.

The one item we totally hated and it was badly done was their tempura. We ordered tempura soba to share and the assorted tempura that accompanied it had a heavy batter. Another no-no was the batter was more golden yellow vs light yellow. Kinda sad, as the bowl of soba was a generous portion with moutain vegetables (sansai), nameko mushrooms and seaweed topping it. While we hated the tempura here, we wouldn't mind returning to try the other dishes like the kamameshi rice (rice cooked in an iron pot) and another order of the Jyu Raku roll. They also do a Japanese version of yee sang here, which looks pretty interesting. More pixs are in the flickr set.

Jyu Raku
13, Jln SS15/5A
47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor

Tel: 03-5633 3819

(Pork free. Open from 11.30am-3pm, 6-11pm for Monday to Thursday. On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, open from 12noon to 10.30pm.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Japanese Food + Subang Jaya

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Bak Kut Teh @ Restoran Chuan Chiew, Subang Jaya

claypot goodness in a pot...a little sinful though

Let us counteract all that healthy food with a claypot full of sin a.k.a bak kut teh. I was craving for something soupy and filling since I had a very early dinner the night before. Original plan was Chao Zhao at SS18 but since it was closed, this was the next best thing.

You are spoiled for choice around this whole row of shophouses; there is Chuan Chiew, Yu Kee and further away Chao Zhao. All serve bak kut teh but Yu Kee and Chao Zhao has additional stuff. I seem to be fated to eat here as I got a carpark space next to the shop. Even though it may not be full when early, it starts to fill up as the clock strikes 1pm.

The taste of the bak kut teh is still not as superior as my all-time favourite Teluk Pulai at Taman Rashna but quite decent. It probably does not make the mark for me, as I prefer my soup to be a little herbal. I went a little overboard with the "additions", asking for enoki mushrooms and intestines. Each normal claypot comes with your choice of meat, canned button mushrooms slices, Chinese mushrooms slices, tofu puffs, beancurd skin and iceberg lettuce. Another plus point about eating here - the shophouses open both sides hence you can walk in from either the front or the back, making it much easier.

Chuan Chiew Restoran
18, Jln SS14/2
Subang Jaya

Tel No: 03-56330629

(Non halal. Open 7.30am-11pm. Closed every Tuesday.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Bak Kut Teh

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Prawn Mee (Hokkien Mee) @ Restaurant New Apollos, USJ 4 Subang Jaya

prawn mee - top view

Work has been positively slow these few days. It is probably because I have been getting back into the groove after such a long break. It does not help as Chinese New Year (CNY) seems to be looming ahead just round the corner. Is it just me or there seems to be a lack of CNY spirit all around? We did a walkabout last weekend around Petaling Street. There was not much atmosphere all over the place. Instead you get overwhelmed by the foreign workers manning the stalls and the fake handbags (Coach seems to be popular). Only if you walk into those shops selling CNY items, you start feeling a little tinge of the spirit. This year, paper cuts and ox-shaped decorations seem to be the "in" thing. At selected stalls, you can get waxed meats, pussy willows, peonies, cookies, candied fruits and vegetables.


from the side...

Back to food rather than my rants.....this time, prawn mee recommended by Sam Cheong in the Star Metro. This corner coffeeshop just off the main road in USJ is more famous for its claypot chicken rice (great value for money, huge portions and cooked over a charcoal fire). This place also has weird seats - the plastic types all fixed with chairs, which is more common at food courts or fast food joints. I was a little surprised that this coffeeshop, was also famous for its prawn mee, hence I made a lunch stop here. I went for the "works" since that was highly recommended.

At RM6.50 with extras like intestines and pork ribs, I expected fantastic food. While the prawn mee broth was above average, it still didn't come close to my favourite stall in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Moreover, the uncle manning the stall was a little stingy with the broth, that seemed to dissapear as quickly as I ate it down. However, I did like the extra bit of sinful intestine but thought my order of pork ribs was an utter waste of monies since it was mainly bones versus meat. However, when beggars like me work in Shah Alam, they can't be choosy, hence this may be the best prawn mee around for me to indulge in whenever I feel the need. Don't rush over for this prawn mee but if you are around this area, it is worth a try.

Penang Prawn Mee & Loh Mee Stall
Restaurant New Apollos
2, Jln USJ4/6B
Subang Jaya

(Non halal. Stall closes alternate Tuesdays and is available for breakfast and lunch. This coffeeshop seems to be also popular among its patrons for the fried Hokkien and Cantonese noodles. A small bowl of prawn mee is RM3.80 and a large one, RM4.50.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Prawn Mee